[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18-2-36a; and to
amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated
§18-20-1e, all relating to defining "dyslexia"; establishing
a dyslexia screening and intervention pilot project; and
establishing a dyslexia teacher training pilot program.Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated
§18-2-36a; and that
said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated
§18-20-1e, all to read as follows:ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.§18-2-36a. Dyslexia Screening and Intervention Pilot Project.
(a) As used in this section, "dyslexia" means a specific learning disorder that is neurological in origin and that is
characterized by unexpected difficulties with accurate or fluent
word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities not
consistent with the intelligence, motivation and sensory
capabilities of the person, which difficulties typically result
from a deficit in the phonological component of language.
(b) The state board shall establish a pilot project to provide
early screening and intervention services for children with risk
factors for dyslexia.
(1) The state superintendent shall select three school
districts to participate in the pilot project.
(2) To be considered for the pilot project, a school district
shall submit a proposal to the state superintendent that identifies
a method of screening children for low phonemic awareness and other
risk factors for dyslexia, provides for the enrollment of children
identified as having risk factors for dyslexia in a reading program
staffed by teachers trained in multisensory structured language
programs and includes a methodology for evaluating the effects of
the reading program on the children's identified risk factors.
(3) Each participating school district, through early
childhood reading instruction and reading assistance programs,
shall screen children six years of age or younger for indications
of dyslexia, provide appropriate reading intervention services for
those children identified as having risk factors for dyslexia and administer assessments, approved by the state superintendent, to
ascertain whether the intervention services improve those students'
reading and learning.
(A) When a child is identified as having risk factors for
dyslexia, the school district shall notify the child's parent or
guardian of that fact and that the child, as part of the pilot
project, is eligible to receive reading intervention services to
measure the effectiveness of early reading assistance programs.
(B) The parent or guardian shall indicate in writing that he
or she voluntarily and knowingly consents to the child's
participation in the pilot project for the provision of reading
intervention services.
(C) Each school district shall provide to the parents of
children identified as having risk factors for dyslexia information
about the learning disability, recommended multisensory treatments
and available services.
(4) The state superintendent shall apply for private and other
nonstate funds and shall use available state funds appropriated to
the Department of Education for the pilot project.
(5) The state superintendent shall establish guidelines and
procedures for the pilot project.
(6) The state superintendent shall consult with an
organization or organizations that specializes in multisensory
structured language programs for the treatment of dyslexia in establishing and operating the pilot project.
(7) Each participating school district shall report to the
state superintendent regarding the progress of the pilot project
with a level of frequency to be determined by the superintendent,
but no less frequently than twice annually.
(8) The pilot project shall run for three full school years,
beginning with the 2013-2014 school year.
(9) The goal of this pilot project is to demonstrate and
evaluate the effectiveness of early reading assistance programs for
children with risk factors for dyslexia and to evaluate whether
those programs can reduce future special education costs.
(c) The state board shall report to the Legislative Oversight
Commission on Education Accountability by December 1, 2013 and by
December 1 thereafter for the duration of the pilot projects on the
effect of the projects on diagnosing and treating children with
risk factors for dyslexia.ARTICLE 20. EDUCATION OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN.
§18-20-1e. Creation of a dyslexia teacher training pilot program. (a) As used in this section, "dyslexia" means a specific
learning disorder that is neurological in origin and that is
characterized by unexpected difficulties with accurate or fluent
word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities not
consistent with the intelligence, motivation and sensory
capabilities of the person, which difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language.
(b) The state board shall establish a pilot project to educate
teachers on recognizing and adapting to children with risk factors
for dyslexia.
(1) The state superintendent shall select one or more
institutions of higher education and three school districts to
participate in the pilot program.
(2) The selected institution(s) of higher education shall:
(A) Provide teachers of grades kindergarten through fourth in
the selected school districts with programs or institutes designed
to train teachers on the indicators of dyslexia and the types of
instruction that children with risk factors for dyslexia need to
learn, read, write and spell, including multisensory structured
language programs; and
(B) Provide instruction for teacher candidates enrolled in the
elementary, early childhood education or special education program
at the institution, which is incorporated into the programs for the
school districts and is designed to train the teacher candidates on
the indicators of dyslexia and the type of instruction that
children with risk factors for dyslexia need to help them learn,
read, write and spell, including multisensory structured language
programs.
(3) The state superintendent shall apply for private and other
nonstate funds and shall use available state funds appropriated to the Department of Education for the pilot project.
(4) The state superintendent shall establish guidelines and
procedures for the pilot project, including benchmarks for the
evaluation of the project.
(5) The pilot project shall run for a length of time to be
determined by the state board.
(6) The participating institution(s) of higher education and
participating school districts shall file reports concerning the
pilot program with the state superintendent at intervals to be
determined by the superintendent.
(7) The goal of this pilot project is to demonstrate and
evaluate the effectiveness of training teachers to provide early
reading assistance programs for children with risk factors for
dyslexia and to evaluate whether the early assistance programs can
reduce future special education costs.
(c) The state board shall report to the Legislative Oversight
Commission on Education Accountability by December 1, 2013, and
each December 1 thereafter for the duration of the pilot projects
on the effect of the projects on teachers' and teacher candidates'
ability to detect and adapt to dyslexia.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a pilot
project for dyslexia screening and intervention and a pilot project
to educate teachers on recognizing and adapting to children with
dyslexia in order to improve the education children with dyslexia
receive in West Virginia.
§18-2-36a and §18-20-1e are new; therefore, strike-throughs
and underscoring have been omitted.